Thursday, June 26, 2008

Heart disease is the #1 killer of women in the United States. 1 in 3 women will die from some form of heart disease. 500,000 women each year will have a heart attack – two-thirds of which don’t fully recover. They don’t fully recover because they were either misdiagnosed or didn’t know they were having a heart attack because their symptoms tend to be the uncommon symptoms of which they have no knowledge.

CFH is a regional non-profit that focuses their attention to women in the Philadelphia area, surrounding suburban communities as well as New Jersey and Delaware. Free programs and presentations are offered to groups of women. Group size ranges from 5 to over 100. These presentations can be customized to meet the group’s needs (time, age, size of group). Printed educational materials from the American Heart Association and / or the National Institute of Health / National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute are handed out to every attendee. These women learn about how heart disease affects women: risk factors, symptoms, AND prevention. In December 2005 a Continuing Medical Education (CME) program was held in conjunction with Temple University Hospital: Carol Pawelski Memorial Lecture (CME) -Issues in Cardiovascular Disease Management for Women: Emerging Concepts in the Care of Women with the Metabolic Syndrome. The program was attended by more than 80 physicians and was very well received. CFH continues to do several programs a month reaching all different types of women.

CFH hosts 2 major events to raise funds as well as raise awareness of women’s heart disease. Each September CFH hosts a 5K Race / Fun Run / Walk ( the first one taking place in 2003) and each April CFH hosts Girls with Gears: A Women’s Cycling Event. These events have included thousands of participants and raised over $100,000. These funds have been used to support the CFH programs and presentations as well as a women’s heart center at Temple University Hospital.

Over the last 12 months CAROL For Heart has been featured on Fox 29 News, CN 8 Newsmakers program and An Apple a Day on PS Sports (Pottstown local cable network).